The Obamacare Solution
THE OBAMACARE SOLUTION
>
>
> The phone rings and the lady of the house answers:
“Hello?”
“Mrs. Sanders, please.”
“Speaking.”
“Mrs. Sanders, this is Dr. Jones at the laboratory. When your husband’s
doctor sent his biopsy to the lab last week, a biopsy from another Mr.
Sanders arrived as well. We are now uncertain which one belongs to your
husband. Frankly, either way the results are not too good.”
“What do you mean?” Mrs. Sanders asks nervously.
“Well, one of the specimens tested positive for Alzheimer’s and the other
one tested positive for HIV. We can’t tell which is which.”
“That’s dreadful! Can you do the test again?” questioned Mrs. Sanders.
“Normally we can, but the new health care system will only pay for these
expensive tests just one time.”
”Well, what am I supposed to do now?”
“The folks at ‘ObamaCare’ recommend that you drop your husband off
somewhere in the middle of town. If he finds his way home, don’t sleep with
him.”
Posted on March 9th, 2010 by vbierschwale
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This will happen more and more as the shareholders that actually own the corporations realize the executives in charge do not have their best interests at heart
This is something I do not understand.
For instance, these corporations would not have the funds to pursue their bigger at all costs conquest if it were not for the individiduals, and groups that invest their money looking for a better return on their money then they could get at a bank.
So no matter how you twist it around, it is the shareholders that actually own the corporations.
Not the corporate executives, nor the board of directors, nor the investment bankers.
Because all of those people make their money from the company as employees, or as a commission for helping to provide the fundraising portion.
So how is it that these people that have very little skin in the game are able to take 47% of revenue from the till?
Where is their fiduciary duty to the shareholders, not to the corporate executives, the board of directors or the investment bankers.
Union Pension Sues Goldman Sachs
A large union pension fund has figured out a way to do more than just criticize investment banks for overpaying its executives. The International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers pension fund filed a lawsuit against Goldman Sachs Monday, trying to prevent the Wall Street giant from allocating around 47 percent of 2009 net revenue as compensation. The suit says such allocations “vastly overcompensate management and constitute corporate waste,” particularly after the bank took government-bailout funds in 2008. The union hopes to recover more money for shareholders that have invested in the company.
Thanks to the daily beast for this article
What makes it even worse for me was the show on CNBC last night by Tom Brokaw titled “Boomers”
I only caught the tail end of it, but it looked like Tom Brokaw did a very good job except for one thing and that one thing is that he did not touch the apparently Taboo subject of exactly how many of these corporations are sending their work offshore or bringing in foreign workers to replace these people over 50 that they are ridding themselves of in a systematic fashion.
Think about it Tom, and if you don’t have an idea how to determine this, please take a look at this article as it will show you step by step how to get to the bottom of it and it might even make a great next show for you.
As for me, I too am 52 and I can’t buy an interview and as I review the data I realize more and more that we don’t have a problem with baby boomers coming of age.
We have a problem with corporations putting their senior people out of work and losing all that knowledge so that they can be replaced like commodities using inexperienced, inexpensive bodies from other countries and to hell with America or the American people if they don’t like it.
So you see Tom, that is where the real problem is and nope, I don’t have the resources to get to the bottom of it, but you do, if, and its a very big If because I do not believe your parent corporation of NBC will allow you to do so.
Posted on March 9th, 2010 by vbierschwale
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Old School Versus New School
Old School Versus New School
It’s a direct-marketing technique that’s been around since that industry was born. And with the Internet, it’s only gotten more effective and produces results even faster. Google AdWords expert Howie Jacobson gives you the scoop in today’s essay.
——————————————Highly Recommended——————————–
What a Difference 14 Cents a Day Can Make
What is it that you would like to accomplish in 2010? How about this…
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This article appears courtesy of Early To Rise, a free newsletter dedicated to making money, improving health and secrets to success. For a complimentary subscription, visit http://www.earlytorise.com.
Posted on March 9th, 2010 by vbierschwale
Filed under: Human Interest | No Comments »
How AdWords Could Have Gotten Me a Date in 1978
This one time, in 1978, I tried to get a date for the 8th grade Valentine’s Day dance at my junior high school. Acting like the marketer I would become, I first selected my target market of girls I was interested in, based mainly on their demonstrated ability to spend 20 minutes in my company without getting grossed out or offended.
Having narrowed my market, I next chose my medium. Face to face was out of the question, as the only way to get one of those girls alone would have been to shove her in a janitor’s closet. So the medium would be the telephone.
One night, about two weeks before the dance, I purloined the corded phone in my parents’ bedroom, locked myself in my room with a phonebook, and prepared for my first foray into outbound telemarketing.
It wasn’t going to be pretty. I was cursed with limited sales experience and a rather dubious product: three hours with me in a school cafeteria doing the Bump and the Hustle to what we knew even then was some of the worst music ever created. Not to mention the obligatory slow dances.
So I knew I would have to practice. Luckily, I had expanded my prospect list to include several dozen girls who barely knew I existed and, therefore, could be counted on not to have any predisposition to say no to my suggestion of a date.
I found the phone number of the first one and tried to dial. As my shaking finger punched the last digit, I realized with a shudder that I had forgotten the name of the girl I was calling. A man’s voice answered, “Hello?”
“Urggly,” I said.
“Hello?” he repeated. I began to panic. I had to do something.
“Um, hi, is there an 8th grade girl at this location?” I stammered through the asthma I had just mysteriously acquired.
“Who is this?” the voice demanded, in a somewhat hostile tone, I thought.
As I hung up, I remember feeling distinctly grateful that Caller ID would not be invented for another decade or so.
I obviously needed a plan. So I wrote a script, complete with openings crafted for any eventuality: phone answered by prospect, by prospect’s parent, by prospect’s sibling, by answering machine, by random burglar, etc.
I practiced that script in the mirror for several hours. Then I returned to the phone and started dialing. This time, I took note of the name of my prospect — Ilene, a girl who went to my Hebrew school and was, therefore, morally obliged to pretend to tolerate me, at least when her parents were watching.
I dialed six digits and then hung up before I could consummate the call, certain that my opening line of, “Hello, is Ilene there?” was going to be a total bomb. I crossed it out and wrote, “Hi, may I speak with Ilene please?”
But that seemed too formal. “Hi, is Ilene there?” seemed to convey the right tone, but I didn’t approve of the cadence. And so on…
Long story, short (well, not so short, but not as long as it could have been), I didn’t make a single call. I procrastinated by drinking water, doing my social studies essay three days early, brushing my teeth several times, and even gargling once. I think I might have actually practiced my violin at one point. Finally, exhausted and ashamed, I returned the phone to my parents’ room, caught the 11:00 p.m. rerun of M*A*S*H, and went to bed.
This brings me — in a rather roundabout way — to what I want to talk about today: testing and tracking, a key strategy for marketing success.
You see, no matter what your online conversion rate, the success of your telephone close, or the effectiveness of your newspaper advertising, if you aren’t routinely testing different approaches and measuring results, you are leaving the lion’s share of business on the table.
Mail-order companies have known about testing and tracking for almost a hundred years. But it was a well-kept secret, largely because it was a tremendously difficult endeavor. If you wanted to test two different headlines in a newspaper ad, you had to figure out a way to get half of the papers to show one headline and the other half to show the second headline. Major logistical nightmare. And then you needed a way to determine which customer saw which ad. Also not easy. And then you had to keep track of the results by using a paper spreadsheet or ancient punch-card-eating mainframe.
In the old days, testing was for the big boys only. And those who did it accumulated unbeatable advantages over their competitors. Their major task was to beat their “control,” to discover a new approach that was even better than their current best one.
For example, here are two headlines for a correspondence course in English grammar:
1. The Man Who Simplified English
2. Do You Make These Mistakes in English?
Headline #1 was a failure, while Headline #2 was a smash hit. Interesting, huh? (This example, and the one that follows, is from John Caples’s book Tested Advertising Methods, 4th Edition.)
How about this pair, for a hair-growth tonic?
1. 60 Days Ago They Called Me “Baldy”
2. If I Can’t Grow Hair for You in 30 Days You Get This Check
Which one did better, #1 or #2? Before you answer, consider that both headlines were considered strong enough to run by some of the smartest, most experienced, highest paid advertising copywriters in the world. (Keep reading for the answer.)
If those copywriters couldn’t tell for sure which one would be best, then how can you or I expect to find the perfect headline, offer, photo, story, price, guarantee, proof, testimonial, etc. to sell our goods and services? There’s no way, unless… unless… unless we can find a way to run our own tests and figure out the results. And for those of us who do our marketing online, that’s not a problem.
Enter (trumpets blaring) Google AdWords. With AdWords, you can test in minutes or days what used to take months. You can figure out for dimes what used to cost tens of thousands of dollars. You can test ads, landing pages, order forms, e-mail sequences — everything about your online sales process. And it’s easier than calling Ilene on the phone and asking for a date (in my experience).
That awkward segue brings me back to my Valentine’s Day Dance Sales Failure. I failed not because I called 45 girls and they all told me to get lost. No. I failed because I didn’t call any of them. I was prepared with several approaches, and it’s certainly possible that at least one of them would have worked. But because I didn’t try anything, I didn’t learn anything. So when the 9th grade talent show/social rolled around the following year, I was no better equipped to get a date than I had been the year before.
The point is, if you’re just serving one Web page to all your visitors, you’re not learning. You’re not improving. And if you’re standing still online, you’re falling back.
So… which one of those headlines for the hair-growth tonic do you think did better? Turns out that Headline #1 (60 Days Ago They Called Me “Baldy”) did much better than Headline #2 (If I Can’t Grow Hair for You in 30 Days You Get This Check).
In the old days, a lot of time and money had to be spent to get the answer. But nowadays, give me a Google account and $10, and I can give you a headline that can double your sales almost instantly.
[Ed. Note: Testing is the only way you can determine whether your marketing efforts are working -- or draining your coffers. And you can make money a lot faster with insider secrets for testing your product. The good news is you have the opportunity to get "mentored" by a team of business-building and marketing experts at our Information Marketing Bootcamp in November.
Bootcamp won't be officially offered for several months. But you can reserve your spot -- and get VIP seating, access to speakers, and more -- today. Make sure you don't miss out on this sure-to-sell-out event. Get all the details here.
Howie Jacobson is an Internet marketing expert specializing in pay-per-click advertising. To discover why most AdWords campaigns fail and how to make yours succeed, download Howie's free AdWords Emergency Room Report at www.askhowie.com.]
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The Greatest Dirty Little Secret of the Internet
To make money as an entrepreneur, you’ve got to constantly scour the earth for high-quality, in-demand products.
You could create new ones. But that can be expensive. Time-consuming. And after all the work… you might wind up with nothing.
But a few of the Internet’s top marketers have found a way around this problem. They don’t spend time (or money) on products that may or may not sell. Instead, they pluck moneymakers from a reserve of pre-made products and sales promotions.
A martial arts expert from Florida has turned this strategy into a small fortune. He estimates that one “pre-made product” made over $20,000 in one month… Another has gone on to pull in over $332,250.
Discover how he found these moneymakers… And learn how you could use this secret to make anywhere from a few hundred bucks a month to a few hundred thousand bucks a year right here.
This article appears courtesy of Early To Rise, a free newsletter dedicated to making money, improving health and secrets to success. For a complimentary subscription, visit http://www.earlytorise.com.
Posted on March 9th, 2010 by vbierschwale
Filed under: Human Interest | No Comments »
The Right Way to Ask For, and Get, Referrals
Asking a client for a referral is no big deal. Provided the timing is right, there’s no reason to worry that you’ll look pushy, presumptuous, or out of place. To boost your chances of success, however, it’s important to know just how to ask.
For example, if you just blurt out “Do you know anyone who could use my services?” with all the sensitivity of a masochistic game show host, what answer are you likely to get?
“Ohhh… mmmmm… no.”
Asking the question in that manner puts your client on the spot. It makes her brain lock up. End of conversation.
Instead, ease into it. Use very casual, but courteous, language to make a very specific request. Something like this:
“Referrals are the primary way I grow my business. And since you’re happy with the way this project has turned out, I wonder if I can ask you for the names of three people who might have a need for my services, either now or sometime in the future. Would that be okay?”
Every happy client will say “Certainly.” And then you ask for the three names. You may only get two names, or one, but consider this: If you ask 15 people for three names, and you get an average of two names each time, that’s 30 potentially warm prospects placed right in your lap!
[Ed Note: This great tip comes from Pete Savage's new book, The Wealthy Freelancer: 12 Secrets to a Great Income and an Enviable Lifestyle, which Michael Masterson describes as "... chock full of useful, profitable ideas. Written by pros, this book is an excellent tool for anyone who wants better clients and a higher income."
Buy The Wealthy Freelancer this week and you can get up to $300 worth of FREE bonus videos, teleseminar recordings, and ebooks to help you take your freelance or consulting business to the next level. These handpicked instructional materials normally sell for up to $97 each. Pete's giving them away FREE -- but only if you buy The Wealthy Freelancer by Friday. Don't miss this special offer! Click here to grab the book and bonus materials today.]
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Are You Truly Happy?
Life is short. And there is no time like RIGHT NOW to pursue your dreams. But is self-doubt stopping you? Negative thoughts holding you back? Dr. Srikumar Rao has taught thousands to break those barriers. Learn what his lifelong study of human potential can help you achieve…
This article appears courtesy of Early To Rise, a free newsletter dedicated to making money, improving health and secrets to success. For a complimentary subscription, visit http://www.earlytorise.com.
Posted on March 9th, 2010 by vbierschwale
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Today’s Words That Work: Purloin
To purloin (per-LOIN) — from the French for “to remove” — is to steal/take dishonestly.
Example (as used by Howie Jacobson today): “One night, about two weeks before the dance, I purloined the corded phone in my parents’ bedroom, locked myself in my room with a phonebook, and prepared for my first foray into outbound telemarketing.”
[Ed. Note: Become a more persuasive writer and speaker ... build your self-confidence and intellect ... increase your attractiveness to others ... just by spending 10 VERY enjoyable minutes a day with ETR's Words to the Wise CD Library.]
This article appears courtesy of Early To Rise, a free newsletter dedicated to making money, improving health and secrets to success. For a complimentary subscription, visit http://www.earlytorise.com.
Posted on March 9th, 2010 by vbierschwale
Filed under: Human Interest | No Comments »
Good Business Is Good Business
The size and anonymity of the Internet has given some companies the idea that they can neglect one of the basic rules of good business, says Bob Bly. And in today’s essay, he shows why this will doom them to failure.
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Bob Bly Is Lazy When It Comes to His Internet Business
When Bob Bly was considering starting an online business several years ago, he was working full-time as a copywriter. (He still does.)
So he didn’t want to spend a lot of time learning the technical side of Internet marketing or creating new products. He didn’t want to be an Internet “guru.” He just wanted a nice little side business for extra income.
He wasn’t sure if it was possible. So he tried out a part-time approach. And he discovered a system that allows him to work only a couple of hours a day… and make $16,000 to $20,000 a month. This system is not dependent on experience, industry contacts, or technical or marketing knowledge. In fact, anyone can make it work — especially if you’re “lazy.”
This article appears courtesy of Early To Rise, a free newsletter dedicated to making money, improving health and secrets to success. For a complimentary subscription, visit http://www.earlytorise.com.
Posted on March 9th, 2010 by vbierschwale
Filed under: Human Interest | No Comments »
Today’s Words That Work: Opprobrious
Opprobrious (uh-PROH-bree-us) — from the Latin for “to reproach” — means scornful or abusive; expressing contempt.
Example (as used by Bob Bly today): “People tell me they bought a product online, but when they called about returning it, the seller became downright opprobrious.”
This article appears courtesy of Early To Rise, a free newsletter dedicated to making money, improving health and secrets to success. For a complimentary subscription, visit http://www.earlytorise.com.
Posted on March 9th, 2010 by vbierschwale
Filed under: Human Interest | No Comments »
What the Ethical Culture Society Can Teach You About Internet Marketing
There are two kinds of customers you must pay special attention to: (1) the excellent customer, and (2) the extremely unhappy customer.
The excellent customer is someone who can’t stop buying your products, has been easy to service, and raves about you to everyone he knows. Only now he’s asking for something a bit out of the ordinary — and has created a special situation that must be handled. Since satisfied customers are your most important asset, you want to go to extremes to keep them happy.
One of my excellent customers, for instance, wanted a substitute for the free report I was offering with one of my e-books — something we don’t give away. But he had bought tons from us, so I happily gave it to him. He was so happy, he immediately bought yet another product.
The other type of customer you want to handle personally and with great care is the extremely unhappy customer. Reason: Unhappy customers tell other people that they’re unhappy with you. The more unhappy they become, the more people they complain to — and the louder they say it.
In the good old days, an unhappy customer complained to maybe 5 or 10 other people. But with social networking, they can tell thousands about you with a few keystrokes and mouse clicks.
I had a problem with a product I bought online, but could get no satisfaction from the seller. He refused to even take my call. So I wrote about it on my blog. Within 24 hours, the seller called, apologized profusely, immediately fixed the problem, and begged me to remove the post from.
Despite this newfound power that consumers enjoy online, many Internet businesses treat their customers poorly. I hear complaints about it all the time. People tell me they bought a product online, but when they called about returning it, the seller became downright opprobrious. Or they tell me about Internet marketers who flat out refuse, on the flimsiest of excuses, to honor their money-back guarantees.
And Internet marketers can be so darn inaccessible!
I mean, if you have a problem with your phone, you can call the phone company and eventually get to a real person, right? But when you want to complain to an Internet marketer, more often than not there is no mailing address or phone number.
And when you send them an e-mail, you get a response from a robot — an auto-responder — not a live human being. The e-mail tells you how busy the marketer is. Sometimes it promises a return call from a person… which usually never comes.
I have heard of Internet marketers who blow their stacks at customers who aren’t very computer literate and have trouble opening and reading an e-book or downloading and listening to a podcast. Those customers may frustrate you and try your patience, but think about how frustrated they must feel. They just bought great information from you, and now they can’t access it.
Is this how you’re treating some or all of YOUR customers? If so, something I heard at a recent meeting of the Ethical Culture Society of Bergen County can serve as your new customer service policy. One of the speakers pointed out that a precept of the organization is: “Every person deserves to be treated fairly and kindly.”
This is great advice, especially if you are an Internet marketer.
“But,” you may argue, “I can’t personally respond to every complaint. That’s why I have an auto-responder or an assistant.”
First of all, assuming your products are a good value, you’re not getting all that many complaints. Second of all, you probably could respond to all of them, if you wanted to.
SL, a major catalog marketer, writes a personal note of apology — and sends it along with a small gift — whenever his company has an unhappy customer. If SL can do it, you and I can do it too.
But let’s say you can personally respond to only a fraction of the complaints you get. What should you do?
I hired a part-time assistant to handle all complaints and special requests. She does her job with sensitivity and common sense. However, I see all the complaints first, and I pick certain ones to handle personally. These are from the two types of customers I mentioned at the beginning of this essay — the extremely unhappy ones and the valuable repeat customers.
Every person deserves to be treated fairly and kindly. Are you treating every customer and prospect fairly? Do you do it angrily or kindly?
One more thing: Add an unadvertised grace period to your money-back guarantee.
If, for example, you have a 90-day money-back guarantee and a customer returns your product on day 92, you give him his money back anyway. Why? Because you want to treat him fairly and kindly… just like you’d want to be treated.
And if you treat your customers fairly and kindly, they will deal with you in the same way.
[Ed. Note: Providing great customer service should be a priority in your Internet business. But there is plenty of other stuff to learn and take care of... search engine optimization, copywriting, landing pages, e-mail list building, social media... you'll learn it all in Bob's Internet Cash Generator program. Find out more about it here.
Bob Bly is a freelance copywriter and the author of more than 70 books. To subscribe to his free e-zine, The Direct Response Letter, and claim your free gift worth $116, click here now: www.bly.com/reports.]
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Recover $4,302 With Shocking Gas “Rebate” Plan
The average U.S. household threw away $4,302 on gasoline in 2008 alone. But a handful of people have discovered a way to make back every penny they spent.
They are collecting checks from a little-known government authorized “gas rebate” program. And they’ll continue receiving payments until 2011. These checks are deposited directly into their accounts… every month. Find out more about this and dozens of other wealth building opportunities here…
Business in Booms and Busts
A Question for Michael Masterson: “Are you approaching business any differently in today’s economic climate? Baby boomers never experienced a severe depression or hyperinflation –therefore, I think their worldview of business is skewed.”
D.M.
Plano, TX
Michael’s Answer: Yes, D.M., I am approaching business differently these days.
I am working harder than I’ve worked in several years. And I’m expecting everyone who works with me to do the same.
I’ve been through downturns before. And I’ve survived by putting my head down and moving forward. That’s what I’m recommending to my employees and my clients. Stop your unprofitable activities. Get rid of marginal products and people. Get mean and lean — and keep doing what you do best.
For me, that means focusing on small businesses in certain information-publishing industries. I like natural health and anything related to baby boomers. That has worked well for me for the past 30 years, and I expect it will work well for another 20.
I believe The Great Recession is still going strong. Lots of businesses will go bankrupt in the next several years. Millions of workers will lose their jobs. The U.S. will struggle and fall. It will no longer be the world’s best economy. But we will survive. And those who make the right moves now will become very rich.
I am investing carefully in real estate. I intend to buy one or two dozen rental houses in the next year or two. When the prices of these properties get back to where they should be, I’ll have made millions. In the meantime, they will generate tens of thousands of dollars of income for me — above and beyond my expenses.
I am buying precious metals, too. But I’m spreading my bets around, because I expect that gold might correct itself a few times before it returns to new highs in a year or so.
I’m also investing in a select group of high-quality, dividend-paying stocks. But there again, I’m expecting a significant market correction. And I continue to invest in bonds. They are riskier than they were before, so I’m being cautious.
Generally, I see the next few years as a buying opportunity for all sorts of investments. I’m bullish on smart investing, even though I think the economy is in serious trouble.
“Excellent content.”
“I think you should raise the price of the Michael Masterson Journal to better reflect the value of its content and to allow for the purchase of an easier-to-read font!
“Excellent content, though. No doubt trust keeps a lot of people, rich and poor, from doing better.”
Robert Schwarztrauber
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How’d You Like to Trade Your Old Beat-Up Car for a New Ferrari?
Retired dentist Rusty McDougal turned $6,300 into $167,460. With returns like that, had he invested a little more… He could have claimed enough cash to buy a gorgeous vacation home… Or easily put FOUR kids through college. How did he do it?
This article appears courtesy of Early To Rise, a free newsletter dedicated to making money, improving health and secrets to success. For a complimentary subscription, visit http://www.earlytorise.com.
Posted on March 9th, 2010 by vbierschwale
Filed under: Human Interest | No Comments »
So you don’t believe wages are going down in America?
Not going to lie to you because I too make mistakes.
I won’t go into the details, but I made mistakes on these two houses.
Like you, I was ten foot tall and bullet proof back then and I didn’t believe the stories about how hard it was becoming to find work in 2002.
After all, I had always been able to find work that paid better then average, hadn’t I?
As a matter of fact, I bought these two houses in vegas during the period of 1999 – 2003
Bought the one with the green yard in 99 and it had a pool/spa in the backyard and a wonderful full sized bar overlooking the pool and I loved it and then my contract ended and I barely got out of it before the bank got involved.
Did the same thing on the grey house in 2001 or maybe 2000 and then the contracts ended in 2003 and all hell broke loose again.
Here are the pictures for you to view.
Click to zoom in on the pictures.
Now we will fast forward to 2010 to see where I live at.
Seems like a lifetime ago and nope, I’m not whining.
I only relay my story so that you will know what is going to happen to you if we don’t stop the lowering of wages in America.
Posted on March 6th, 2010 by vbierschwale
Filed under: Uncategorized | 1 Comment »
Offshore Cook. – United States
Job location – US, Louisiana, New Orleans
General Job Description
Produce quality bakery items required at the worksite as directed by steward. Assist the…
From HotelJobs.com – 06 Mar 2010 10:05:32 GMT – job details – View all jobs
Posted on March 6th, 2010 by vbierschwale
Filed under: why the economy is bad | No Comments »
Offshore Posistions. – United States
Culinary Services is a leading provider in offshore and remote site catering services in the GOM and… screen, pass a basic offshore safety training course…
From HotelJobs.com – 06 Mar 2010 10:05:28 GMT – job details – View all jobs
Posted on March 6th, 2010 by vbierschwale
Filed under: why the economy is bad | No Comments »
OVERSEAS OFFSHORE POSITIONS – Confidential – Houston, TX
Stimwell Services Great Yarmounth, United Kingdom 24198269@chronjob.com Stimwell Services Ltd will be launching the Island Patriot, a new stimulation vessel, to…
From HotJobs – 06 Mar 2010 07:13:14 GMT – job details – View all Houston jobs
Posted on March 6th, 2010 by vbierschwale
Filed under: why the economy is bad | No Comments »
Harry Reid, I MIGHT Believe You IF Your Numbers Were Based On Facts
For our government to stand up and proudly tell the American People that Unemployment is less then 10% makes me realize that we can’t believe a thing that you tell us.
After researching how the numbers are arrived at, I realize that our government doesn’t even have a clue how many people are unemployed.
And then to hear you say this, well what a crock!
Posted on March 5th, 2010 by vbierschwale
Filed under: Uncategorized | No Comments »
List Price Doesn’t Matter
One of the mistakes many new real estate investors make is thinking they got a good deal just because they managed to purchase a property for less than list price.
Don’t confuse list price with property value. In many cases, list price is just the wish price of the seller or some lofty value a realtor gave the property in order to convince the sellers to list with them in the first place.
You’ll get a better indicator of value by answering the following questions:
1. What is the cash flow from the property?
2. What are other properties in the area worth? (Look at properties that are comparable in overall size, number of bedrooms and bathrooms, as well as lot size.)
3. And, finally, what would it cost to build that property right now?
In residential real estate, the best indicator of value is typically based on comparable properties in the area — what they SOLD for, not what they are listed at. But you should also consider cash flow and replacement cost.
List price shouldn’t factor into your calculations. Neither should the property’s assessed value. Neither of those numbers will consistently be a true reflection of what a property is worth. Do your own analysis. Then you can be certain you’re getting a good deal… whether you are buying a property for less than list price or not.
[Ed. Note: Julie Broad, an Internet Money Club member and past attendee of ETR's Internet business-building conferences, is a professional real estate investor (along with her husband) with a passion for teaching others how to get involved in the industry.
She has a special free offer for readers of Early to Rise: 31 real estate investing video tips, including Three Real Estate Calculations You Must Know, How to Find a Good Realtor, and The Hidden Money in Property Management, among many others. Go here to sign up for your free videos now.
ETR's next event, our 5 Days in July Internet Business-Building Conference, will be launched very soon. At 5 Days in July, you'll come in with nothing -- no website and no products -- and you'll leave with a fully operational Internet business. For more information, and to sign up to receive priority notifications and first crack at the low introductory price, go here.]
“Just to say I very much enjoy Early to Rise. And although not quite ready to start my business, I find much that is insightful in these newsletters. Often the business advice can be applied to relationships, too, especially this one about being prepared to be wrong without feeling you are human waste!”
S.S.
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This article appears courtesy of Early To Rise, a free newsletter dedicated to making money, improving health and secrets to success. For a complimentary subscription, visit http://www.earlytorise.com.
Posted on March 5th, 2010 by vbierschwale
Filed under: Human Interest | No Comments »
The Language Perfectionist: “Say What?!” Funny Misunderstandings
A mondegreen is a phrase that has been misheard and thus misunderstood, usually with humorous results.
Here’s an example: A TV commercial claiming that a car was carved from “a single block of steel” was heard by a viewer as “a single glockenspiel.”
Another example: A 2008 news story about newly released Nixon-era tape recordings reported that a transcriber rendered “Mao Zedong” as “Nelson’s tongue.”
Children are natural mondegreeners. Over the years, untold numbers have dutifully intoned “Jose can you see,” “I led the pigeons to the flag,” and “To the republic, for Richard Stans.”
One mondegreen subgenre is especially popular: the misheard rock music lyric. Among the most frequently cited examples:
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“There’s a bathroom on the right” for “There’s a bad moon on the rise.” (Creedence Clearwater Revival)
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“The girl with colitis goes by” for “The girl with kaleidoscope eyes.” (The Beatles)
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“‘Scuse me while I kiss this guy” for “‘Scuse me while I kiss the sky.” (Jimi Hendrix)
Many of these song lyric mondegreens have been collected by a writer named Gavin Edwards and turned into a series of funny books. And numerous websites are devoted to garbled lyrics. One of the more popular — kissthisguy.com — immortalizes the Hendrix blooper.
The word mondegreen is itself a mondegreen, created by American writer Sylvia Wright. Here’s the story.
In a 1954 article in Harper’s magazine, Wright said that, as a child, she misunderstood two lines of a 17th-century Scottish ballad. The lines were: “They ha’e slain the Earl of Moray, / And laid him on the green.” But she heard them as: “They ha’e slain the Earl of Moray, / And Lady Mondegreen.” Noting that “no one else has thought up a word for [such bloopers],” she coined the term mondegreen.
Caution: No official authority exists to authenticate mondegreens. Some are probably invented by pranksters and passed off to the unsuspecting as the genuine article. Laugh at your own risk!
[Ed Note: For more than three decades, Don Hauptman was an award-winning independent direct-response copywriter and creative consultant. He is author of The Versatile Freelancer, an e-book that shows writers and other creative professionals how to diversify their careers into speaking, consulting, training, and critiquing.]
This article appears courtesy of Early To Rise, a free newsletter dedicated to making money, improving health and secrets to success. For a complimentary subscription, visit http://www.earlytorise.com.
Posted on March 5th, 2010 by vbierschwale
Filed under: Human Interest | No Comments »
People Who Talk to Themselves Have a Captive Audience
How many people talk to themselves? As you’re reading this, you might even be saying to yourself, “Who me? I don’t talk to myself.”
There are those who think people who talk to themselves are crazy, but nothing could be further from the truth. People who talk to themselves are competitive and they are often trying to better themselves.
I’m constantly talking to myself because when you do this you are coaching yourself. It’s an opportunity to give yourself some constant, immediate, unfiltered feedback. You have access to yourself 24 hours a day. And the price is right.
Years ago, when I was building Mackay Envelope Company, I had a lot of pep talks with myself. I had to, in order to keep my dream of owning my own company alive. I had plenty of ups, many downs, and needed all the encouragement I could get. And it wasn’t always coming from other sources! So I kept telling myself that things would work out… that I could pull this off… that I was the right person for the job. Forty-plus years and a few zillion envelopes later, I’m glad I listened.
In doing some research on this subject, I discovered that “private speech,” as psychologists call it, starts as soon as kids learn to talk, typically between 18-24 months. It serves two purposes: It (1) helps kids practice language skills and (2) allows them to reflect on daytime experiences. (And let’s not forget how it entertains eavesdropping parents.) In elementary school, kids begin to transition to self-talk or intra-personal communication.
“A lot of parents think that it’s socially unacceptable or weird if a child talks to himself,” says Laura Berk, distinguished professor of psychology at Illinois State University and author of Awakening Children’s Minds. “But in fact it’s normal and typical, and we find that children who engage in task-relevant private speech generally perform better over time.”
I agree 1,000 percent.
Unfortunately, as kids become adults, I’m afraid they grow out of talking to themselves. Maybe it’s because society frowns on it. But the self-talk I’m referring to is not a sign of insecurity, insanity, or schizophrenia.
I talk to myself to help me think and map out my thoughts, to provide feedback, and, probably most important of all, to motivate myself.
Jack Canfield, co-creator of the wildly successful “Chicken Soup for the Soul” books, tells us that research shows that the average person talks to him/herself thousands of times a day! There’s a downside to this research, however: It is 80 percent negative. Things like what you should have done or said instead of what actually happened, your shortcomings, your fears, and so on. Those negative thoughts have tremendous influence over our behavior. But you can change them.
I advise every one of you to continue to talk to yourself throughout your life. I want you to ask yourself: How am I doing? Am I living up to my commitments? I want you to evaluate yourself after a presentation or after a one-on-one with a potential customer. Tell yourself what you could have done better, what you absolutely aced, what you will do on the next call or with the next customer.
As with a lot of things, you have two choices. You can talk yourself into success or failure, into feeling good or bad, thinking positively or negatively. The choice is yours, but you can train yourself to use self-talk as a positive tool. It is up to you to decide whether the conversation in your head is helpful or hurtful. Remember, you can talk yourself out of negative thoughts.
And if you need more than talk, try a little visualization exercise too. Seeing yourself as successful, seeing where you want to go, seeing how you will get there — add that to your self-talk and you can be invincible.
People talk about the brain as a computer. You need to program your brain to motivate yourself. Turn off the autopilot and take control of what you tell your brain to do.
Attitude is everything. You must build up your confidence and positive energy. Focus on the best thing that can happen, not the worst. Too many people talk themselves out of good ideas. Let your thoughts take you where you want to go.
Mackay’s Moral: Great success can come from small conversation.
[Ed. Note: Harvey Mackay has written five New York Times bestselling books, two of which were named among the top 15 inspirational business books of all time – Swim With The Sharks Without Being Eaten Alive and Beware The Naked Man Who Offers You His Shirt. His latest book, Use Your Head To Get Your Foot in the Door: Job Search Secrets No One Else Will Tell You, was released on Feb. 18. Harvey is a nationally syndicated columnist and has been named one of the top five speakers in the world by Toastmasters International. He is also chairman of the $100 million MackayMitchell Envelope Company, a company he started in 1960.
For two free bonus reports featuring Harvey's most powerful essays on leadership, goal achieving, business success, and much more, go here.]
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What MBA Students Have That You Didn’t (Until Now…)
An unconventional course has appeared on the curriculum at Columbia University’s prestigious business school… at the London Business School… and at the Haas Business School at the University of California at Berkeley. Says student Brandon Peele, “I attribute 80% of my $120K MBA price tag to this one class. It changed my life in profound ways.” Now you can get all the life-changing benefits of this program… From your home… For less than a thousandth of the tuition. Find out how here…
This article appears courtesy of Early To Rise, a free newsletter dedicated to making money, improving health and secrets to success. For a complimentary subscription, visit http://www.earlytorise.com.
Posted on March 5th, 2010 by vbierschwale
Filed under: Human Interest | No Comments »
Paramedic Offshore or International – American Medical Response – United States
IN THE PROCESS OF RECRUITING PARAMEDICS FOR OUR OFFSHORE AND INTERNATIONAL OPERATIONS. SUBMIT YOUR RESUME… working order on the offshore platform.
Document and…
From EmCare – 03 Mar 2010 00:05:29 GMT – job details – View all jobs
Posted on March 5th, 2010 by vbierschwale
Filed under: why the economy is bad | No Comments »
Offshore Producer – Razorfish – Chicago, IL
offshore needs for RF internal teams
Engage offshore… # of offshore projects, # of successful offshore projects.
Overall margin and realized rate on offshore…
From Chicago Interactive Marketing Association – 01 Mar 2010 18:33:03 GMT – job details – View all Chicago jobs
Posted on March 5th, 2010 by vbierschwale
Filed under: why the economy is bad | No Comments »
Sales Technical Support, Offshore Wind – Areva – Bethesda, MD
or other offshore experience is a strong advantage
Technical expertise of the US offshore wind industry (WTG Competition, Onshore vs. offshore, Vessels, Jack…
From Areva – 02 Mar 2010 14:55:56 GMT – job details – View all Bethesda jobs
Posted on March 5th, 2010 by vbierschwale
Filed under: why the economy is bad | No Comments »
1st Engineer – Oil Offshore Marine Client – United States
Rotation: 56 days on, followed by 28 days off duty
Experience (years): 5 in similar position
Experience (work): oil & gas, drilling or shipping operations
From Oil Offshore Marine – 03 Mar 2010 19:21:08 GMT – job details – View all jobs
Posted on March 5th, 2010 by vbierschwale
Filed under: why the economy is bad | No Comments »
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